Political Philosophy and Ethics discussion
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Rules and Housekeeping
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If you wish to review your comments in this group, go to the group’s home page and then click “My Group Comments” in the box at the upper right portion of the screen. (This box may not appear on all devices.) Your comments in this group will then appear in reverse chronological order.
Note that you can always edit or delete a previous comment that you have posted. However, I request that, if you wish to delete a comment, you do so by replacing your comment with placeholder language such as I have done in post 20 (October 16, 2018), above: “I have removed the content of this comment but am retaining a blank message as a placeholder in order to preserve the numbering of the items in this topic.” If you entirely delete the post, you will change the numbering upon which we rely in cross-referencing various posts. Note that this rule does not apply to a comment that you have just posted and are deleting before anyone else posts a comment in the same topic/thread.
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Alan E. Johnson
Founding Moderator
Mod
Although we have many members, relatively few people participate in group discussions. If you have something to say, consistent with the rules in the present topic, please don’t hesitate to do so.
Note: The total number of group members can be located on your Goodreads profile page where it shows the “Political Philosophy and Ethics” group (in the section on your groups). Right now, it shows 5,001 members. If you click “members” in the top right-hand box of your screen, it will show only 3,000 members. That is because, for some reason, Goodreads caps the number of members listed at that location for any group at 3,000.
Alan E. Johnson
Founding Moderator
Mod
I just now realized that Goodreads changed its notification procedures on September 19, 2024 (see https://help.goodreads.com/s/announce...). As a result, I have not received Goodreads email notifications of new posts in this group since that time. The home page for the group still indicates new posts by way of highlighting a portion of the topic in red.
As moderator, these new procedures irritate me. I prefer to receive email notifications of new posts. I have tried to reinstate email notifications of the new posts, but I am not sure whether it will work.
After the last post in each topic, one can now check a box stating “Notify me when people comment.” I don’t know at this time whether this will reinstate email notifications for new posts in the topic or not, but I am checking this box for various topics as I go along. I’ll eventually check them for all of our many topics.
I've recently noticed something about websites. Instead of becoming more helpful, they are taking away functions that I have used for years. This has happened with Microsoft’s replacement of “classic Outlook” with its “new Outlook,” which is far inferior to the version they had for decades. It is now happening with Goodreads. Perhaps two examples are not sufficient to form an accurate generalization, but I keep seeing this “dumbing down,” and I am not happy about it.
Alan E. Johnson
Founding Moderator
Mod
I understand that some group members have Goodreads “private profiles” (https://help.goodreads.com/s/article/...) because they wish to remain anonymous with employers or, in some countries, with governments. I myself did not even get on any social media (Facebook, Goodreads, Academia, LinkedIn, etc.) until after I retired from law practice. I didn’t want employers, coworkers, clients, opposing counsel, and opposing parties to know anything about my views.
After my retirement from gainful employment, I established this “Political Philosophy and Ethics” Goodreads group in 2014. Since that time, I have allowed anyone to join this group and post comments in it without advance permission, subject to compliance with the rules in this Rules and Housekeeping topic. However, in this age of phishing, hacking, and foreign imposters, it is now necessary for me to set forth the following new rule:
People wishing to remain anonymous may, of course, view any posts, all of which are public, in this “Political Philosophy and Ethics” group. But, going forward, people who have a private profile or pseudonym may not post anything in this group without first messaging me with basic information about who they are, including the country in which they live, their educational background, their business or professional background, and so forth. I promise that I will not divulge this information to anyone else; the information will remain totally confidential. Those who do not supply such basic information to me may not post anything further, and if they nevertheless do attempt to post anything, I will delete it. Repeated attempts to violate this rule will result in the person being permanently removed from this group.I exempt only one person from this new rule: Feliks (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5...). Over the course of many years, Feliks, notwithstanding his private profile and pseudonym, has provided basic information about his geographic location, education, work, and so forth in his public posts in this group. It is clear to me that he wishes to remain anonymous because he works for a governmental employer in a sensitive position. Since Feliks has already, in effect, complied with this rule, I exempt him from any further need to do so.
Note: You should be able to message me by clicking my Goodreads profile and finding the place to send me a message on the drop-down menu below or near my photo. I am unable to message people with private profiles unless they have messaged me first. If you are unable to locate the “message” feature in my Goodreads profile, you can communicate with me through a post in the group.
Additionally, it is all right to use a pseudonym if you have a public profile indicating basic information about yourself. You don’t have to provide details such as employer names etc.
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Mod
It is all right to post a comment in more than one topic if the post legitimately pertains to those topics. However, to continue posting the same basic comment in multiple posts over an extended period of time is not appropriate, especially when it is posted in topics involving different subjects. There is a limit to the patience of group members (including myself). If such additional posts over an extended period of time have a new application, new argument, or a new cross-reference to an outside publication, they are acceptable if relevant to the subject matter of this group and the specific topic in which they are posted and if they otherwise comply with the rules in the present topic. If not, I will delete such post(s) and, when appropriate, remove the poster from group membership. I took such action yesterday after the poster in question, after warning, continued this objectionable practice.
Alan E. Johnson
Founding Moderator
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
I am finding that I need to refresh my screen in order update the Goodreads posts in this group (including edits to existing posts), even when I have closed down my computer and restarted it later. I don't know whether this is unique to my computer or not. But it might be advisable for readers and posters to refresh their screens periodically, especially before posting something.
I understand that it may not be possible to refresh screens on all devices, for example, on mobile phones.